THE ECONOMIST CALLS FORMER PRESIDENT JONATHAN AN INEFFECTUAL BUFFOON IN LATEST ARTICLE TITLED CRUDE TACTICS.

More than 30 years ago, a young general swept to power in the fifth of Nigeria’s military coups since independence in 1960. The country he inherited was a mess: bled dry by pilfering politicians within and hammered by falling oil prices without. Last year that general, Muhammadu Buhari, became president again—this time in a democratic vote. The problems he has inherited are almost identical. So are many of his responses.

In the eight months since Mr Buhari arrived at Aso Rock, the presidential digs, the homicidal jihadists of Boko Haram have been pushed back into the bush along Nigeria’s borders. The government has cracked down on corruption, which had flourished under the previous president, Goodluck Jonathan, an ineffectual buffoon who let politicians and their cronies fill their pockets with impunity. Lai Mohammed, a minister, reckons that just 55 people stole $6.8 billion from the public purse over seven recent years.

SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS ELECTION OF GOVERNOR NYESOM WIKE OF RIVERS STATE.

The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Nyesom Wike as the Governor of Rivers State.

The reason for the judgement is to be listed on February 12.

Giving the ruling on Wednesday, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, set aside the judgement of the Appeal Court which nullified the election of Governor Wike.

50 MOST VIOLENT CITIES IN THE WORLD, WITH 21 OF THEM IN BRAZIL WHILE 4 ARE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

The 50 most dangerous cities in the world have been named and shamed, and an astonishing 21 of them are in Brazil.

Latin America features highly in the ranking, released by Mexico’s Citizens’ Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice, as it is home to some 41 of the cities listed.

Drug trafficking, gang wars, political instability, corruption and poverty are to blame for the high homicide rates across the region, which has just 8 per cent of the world’s population, according to UN data.

ROB KARDASHIAN MOVES IN WITH BLAC CHYNA.

Rob Kardashian packed a suitcase and moved in with Blac Chyna ... at least temporarily ... TMZ has learned.

Rob, who was living at Khloe's house, has been at B.C.'s digs for 5 days and counting. As for how it happened ... we're told Rob made the first move by DM'ing Chyna 2 weeks ago.

We're told Rob genuinely likes Chyna and is not hooking up to upset his family ... but we're told it has definitely upset the Kardashian brood. Kylie has been at war with Tyga's baby mama for more than a year.

RAMIRES JOINS CHINESE SIDE JIANGSU SUNING.

The Chelsea midfielder Ramires has joined China’s Jiangsu Suning for an initial fee of £20m which could eventually rise to £25m.

Ramires, an £18m signing from Benfica in 2010, has not started a Premier League match under the interim stewardship of Guus Hiddink and was not included among the substitutes for the draw with Everton and Sunday’s win at Arsenal.

The Brazilian signed a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge in October but has slipped down the pecking order.

THE WORLD OF NIGERIA'S SEX TRAFFICKING AIR LORDS.

Last year, the BBC's Sam Piranty was given access by the Catalan police, Mossos D'Esquadra, to an investigation into a Nigerian sex-trafficking gang. He spoke to traffickers and women rescued from sexual slavery before filming an early morning raid in November, which led to 23 arrests. He also discovered that the gang is now using London as a gateway into Europe.

It's 08:00 in the Catalan Police Headquarters on the outskirts of Barcelona and Xavi Cortes, head of the anti-trafficking unit, waits patiently for his 22 teams to confirm they are in position. Finally, he gives the order.

Two-hundred-and-fifty officers quietly climb out of their police vans. Single file, each team approaches a residential building watched by a few surprised neighbours.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SET TO RECOVER $750M ABACHA LOOT.

The Federal Government of Nigeria, Tuesday disclosed that it would soon recover additional $750 million said to be part of “Abacha loot.”

The Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami made this disclosure during an interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Justice in Abuja.

Malami also said his ministry was aiming at recovering on behalf of the Federal Government £6.9 million said to have been misappropriated by a former governor of Delta State, James Ibori.

FAMILY ABANDONS CORPSE OF LASSA FEVER VICTIM AT THE NATIONAL HOSPITAL, ABUJA.

About two weeks after his death, the corpse of the patient that died of Lassa fever is still at the National Hospital in Abuja and yet to be buried.

Although the details of the delay for the burial were still sketchy, a source in the hospital said that the family might have abandoned the corpse “because of the manner of the death.”

The 33-year-old newly-married man lived in Jos, Plateau State, but came to see a relative in Kubwa because of his illness.

OLISA METUH'S FIRM AND OTHERS RECEIVED N1.4BN FROM DASUKI'S OFFICE FOR DOING NOTHING.

The Office of the National Security Adviser told a Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday that it had in November 2015 petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate about 78 firms and individuals, including a firm owned by the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh, that were allegedly paid about N1.4bn by the ONSA for non-existing contracts.

This was revealed in the electronic mandate issued by a former NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), to the Abuja branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, authorising N1.4bn to 78 beneficiaries.

The document was tendered and admitted as exhibits by the court presided over by Justice Okon Abang on Tuesday, during the resumed trial of Metuh and his company, Destra Investments Limited, who were charged with seven counts of money laundering and fraudulent receipt of N400m meant for procurement of arms from the NSA office on November 22, 2014.

JOSHUA DARIYE IS WANTED IN LONDON FOR MONEY LAUNDERING - EFCC TELLS COURT.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission told a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Gudu, Abuja, on Tuesday, that a former Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Joshua Dariye, was still wanted in the United Kingdom for alleged money laundering.

The commission said the former governor escaped to Nigeria after jumping bail that was granted him in London in 2004.

Dariye, who was later elected Senator, representing Plateau Central in the 2015 general elections, is being prosecuted on 23 counts of money laundering and diversion of Plateau State’s N1.126bn ecological funds while he was the state governor.

FAYOSE VISITS AREGBESOLA IN OSUN.

The Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has said he will never leave the Peoples Democratic Party for any other party despite the crisis within the PDP.

Fayose said this in Osogbo on Tuesday when he visited Governor Rauf Aregbesola at the Government House, Osogbo in company with about 50 dignitaries including the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr. Kola Oluwawole.

The governor said he read on the Internet that he was coming to Osogbo to beg Aregbesola to plead with President Muhammadu Buhari not to probe him.

NIGERIAN ARMY REACTS TO CALLS FOR COAS BURATAI TO BE INVESTIGATED CONCERNING THE $2.1BN ARMS DEAL.

The Nigerian Army has noted with dismay the attempt to rubbish the hard earned name and reputation of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai and the Nigerian Army by a faceless group that called itself “Save the Nation Movement” (STNM) through orchestrated campaign of calumny in the media. In a release signed by Steven Chilaka, its “National Secretary” on Sunday, they wanted the Chief of Army Staff to be included among those indicted in the ongoing probe of abuse of funds meant for the procurement of arms simply because he was the Director of Procurement at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ). The public will recall our earlier warning of this type of campaign of calumny against the Nigerian Army and the Chief of Army Staff.

WATCH NIGERIANS STEALING FUEL FROM A CRASHED TANKER ON LAGOS-IBADAN EXPRESSWAY.

FUEL CRAZE

People sometimes disregard safety for cheap gains. All that was needed for many to die was a little source of fire yet the Nigerians captured in this video kept stealing fuel from the crashed tanker. This happened last Friday.

READ HOW TEENAGER WAS GANG RAPED BY FOUR BOYS IN BARIGA, LAGOS. #SAYNOTORAPE.

The scenario at the Gender Office of the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, Wednesday, where a teenager who alleged that she was gang raped was brought face-to-face with the suspects, left everyone, except the policemen, in the dark over the true position of things. While the teenager, a primary five pupil alleged that the suspects, Femi Olatunji, John Alade, Oyekanmi Rasheed and Habeeb Oladele, took turns to rape her, following her refusal to go out with the prime suspect, Femi, the suspects on thier parts, vehemently denied the allegation, describing it as mere blackmail.

CUSTOMS SET TO DE-RANK 4000 OFFICERS OVER SELF PROMOTION.

Crisis is brewing at the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, following management’s decision to clampdown on officers from the ranks of Assistant Comptroller of Customs to the lowest cadre, over their alleged indiscriminate allotment of ranks to themselves.

The development, it was gathered, has made some of the affected officers to start running helter skelter with a view to scuttling the exercise.

Some affected officers have resorted to using their godfathers to stop the management from implementing the decision.

ZARIA SHIITE KILLINGS - EL ZAKZAKY FLOWN OUT FOR TREATMENT IN FRANCE, BACK IN NIGERIA.

The embattled leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El Zakzaky, was flown out of Nigeria for treatment of gun shot injuries he suffered during the encounter between his supporters and members of the Nigerian Army last year, multiple security sources said yesterday.

It will be recalled that during the bloody encounter between the Shiites and the Nigerian Army, several members of the sect were killed, while many others sustained various degrees of injuries with some still on admission at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika near Zaria.

The fracas occurred when members of the sect allegedly blocked the Zaria-Sokoto road and prevented the convoy of the Chief of Army staff from passing through, despite several entreaties.

WHERE ARE THE INTELLECTUALS??? - REUBEN ABATI.

Something sad has happened and is happening, and is getting worse in our society: the decline of public intellectualism.  And so I ask, where are the public intellectuals? Once upon a time in this country, the public arena was dominated by a ferment of ideas, ideas that pushed boundaries, destroyed illusions, questioned orthodoxies and enabled societal progress.

Those were the days when intellectuals exerted great influence on public policy, and their input into the governance process could not be ignored. Ideas are strong elements of nation building, and even where interests are at play, you know the quality of a country by the manner in which a taste for good thinking propels the leadership process.

NIMASA N22.7BN FRAUD - EFCC LINES 25 WITNESSES AGAINST TOMPOLO AND OTHERS.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has filed fresh 22 charges against an ex-Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, and 12 others.

The charges, which were filed on Friday at a Federal High Court in Lagos, bordered on stealing, advanced fee fraud and money laundering to the tune of N22,765,900,000.

The fresh charges were filed eight days after Justice Ibrahim Buba ordered the arrest of Tompolo for his failure to appear on January 14, 2016 to take his plea on a separate 40 counts of alleged N34bn fraud earlier filed against him and nine others by the EFCC.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REMOVES KEROSENE SUBSIDY COMPLETELY.

The Federal Government has officially ended the payment of subsidy on kerosene. Instead of the regulated pump price of N50 per litre, the product will now sell for N83, according to the latest pricing template for House Hold Kerosene released by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.

The PPPRA is the agency of the Federal Government that fixes and regulates the prices of white products, kerosene and petrol, across the country.

In its latest template released on Saturday, the agency stated that the retail price of kerosene or HHK by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was N83 per litre.

HIGHLIGHTS - ARSENAL 0 CHELSEA 1.

ARS 0 CHE 1